Aggressiveness: Getting what one wants by upsetting other people or trampling on the feelings of others.
Assertiveness: Getting what one wants without upsetting other people.
B
Body language: Also called "Non-verbal communication". The subtle signals that people give in their body posture and behaviour (e.g. yawning to indicate boredom, or mimicking the speaker's body language to indicate agreement).
C
Closed question: Any question that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" or a simple piece of information, such as "What time is it?" or "Has the bus arrived yet?". (See open question)
Conciseness: Conveying information in a brief and effective way.
Content: The information contained in a message or presentation.
Cultural misunderstanding: A misunderstanding caused by people having different expectations due to their being brought up in different environments. For example, Company A may have a policy of considering requests to be binding only if they are confirmed in writing, whereas Company B may regard a spoken request as being enough. Any employee moving from A to B (or vice-versa) would be unfamiliar with the new working "culture" and misunderstandings between the employee and his/her new colleagues would result.
D
E
Effective listening: Listening in such a way as to maximise the amount of relevant information taken in and give a positive, attentive impression to the speaker.
F
Feedback: Information returned to a sender or speaker confirming that a message has been received, or explaining the impression that a message gave.
G
H
Horizontal communication: Communication between people or groups of people who are equals, e.g. communication between two students or between one head of department and another. See vertical communication.
I
J
K
L
Loaded question: Any question containing an assumption or which suggests the answer expected, e.g. "What do you think of the Government's dreadful employment policy?" (See neutral question)
M
N
Neutral question: Any question that contains no assumption or prejudice. (See loaded question)
Noise: Anything which tends to disrupt communication.
O
Open question: A question that cannot be answered by a simple "yes" or "no" or a straightforward piece of information, e.g. "What were your holidays like this year?" (See closed question)
P
Presentation: A formal talk to an audience of people on a pre-agreed topic. It may involve Visual aids
Q
R
Receiver: Someone who receives communicated information.
S
Sender: Someone who transmits information in a message.
Submissiveness: Always deferring to the will or wishes of others, even when they are obviously wrong.
T
U
V
Vertical communication: Communication between people or groups of people who are not equals, e.g. between a general in the army and a common soldier. See Horizontal communication.
Visual aids: Equipment to assist a speaker giving a presentation, such as an Overhead Projector (OHP), a blackboard, photocopied notes etc.
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